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Derby’s diabetes care praised as a shining example by charity boss

Published12/08/2015

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Diabetes care offered to patients in Derby has been held up as a national example of good practice by the head of Diabetes UK.

Baroness Barbara Young, chief executive of the organisation, spent several hours with staff at London Road Community Hospital, finding out more about the pioneering way in which Derby Teaching Hospitals works with city GPs to provide care for diabetes patients in the area.

It was the first time she had visited Derby, but she said she had long admired the work carried out within the Trust and the wider community to serve the 15,000 diabetes patients in the area.

Baroness Young said: “The service here has always been one of the things we are keen on, as it is very integrated. It brings together primary and community care with hospital care. It shows all the features of what makes a good and successful service. We have always been really supportive of it, but I have never seen it on the ground, so I wanted to come and do that. I wanted to learn more about what makes care a success.”

Diabetes specialists within the Trust work closely with local GPs and other services to provide a complete service for patients suffering with diabetes. Services, including podiatry services and eye care, are delivered as close as possible to patients’ homes, and all under one roof, as far as that is possible. Information sharing means patients can quickly and easily be placed into new clinics or a higher level of care, if it is necessary, including hospital services.

It means patients can access the specialist services they need without the need for repeat hospital visits.

Baroness Young said she thought this model could be used by other Trusts in the country, to help deal with the rising demand for diabetes services.

She added: “I think if you didn’t have a model like this, the whole thing would implode. With growing numbers of people with diabetes, patients need to be able to access that in a very integrated way, so there are no cracks which they can fall through and disappear. We can be confident that shared care is keeping standards up, as everyone will work together to make sure people get the right support.”

Dr Paru King, consultant physician for diabetes and endocrinology for Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said Baroness Young had been a great help to clinical leaders working on diabetes care in Derby.

She added: “It’s fantastic that Barbara is interested in the work we do. She has been very supportive in helping us through the commissioning process for services.”